Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
  • G06F3/14—Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units

Definitions

• the invention relates to a data network connection device for a display device with an input device having an interface for establishing a communication connection with a data network, an output for connecting a display device, a charging device for loading data to be displayed from the data network into a memory and a display device for converting the loaded Data in an output signal to control the display device.
• the invention relates to a method which can be used in such a data network connection device for processing the data to be displayed.
• Data network connection devices of the type described are used in order, for example, not only to be able to use a television set for receiving television channels, but also to display information from a data network, for example the Internet.
• the task to be mastered by data network connection devices is on the one hand to establish a communication connection to the data network and to obtain desired data from the data network and on the other hand to prepare the data received from the data network in such a way that they are displayed on the television in a suitable manner.
• the object of the invention is to provide a data network connection device for a display device and a suitable method in which the display of data from a data network on a display device is improved, i. H. is particularly feasible with less computing effort.
• a data network connection device of the type mentioned at the outset which is characterized in that the display device has an image generation device for generating a graphic representation of the data to be displayed independently of the resolution of a connected display device and for storing the graphic representation in a graphic memory and an output device for outputting a section of the graphic representation from the graphics memory, which comprises means for selecting the section to be output.
• the advantage of the data network connection device is that the graphic representation of the data to be displayed only has to be calculated once, regardless of whether the screen content is scrolled. Scrolling takes place according to the invention in that a section of the graphic representation of the data to be displayed stored in the graphic memory is selected and output.
• the graphic representation of the section to be displayed does not have to be recalculated, but can be taken directly from the graphic memory.
• the selection of the image section to be displayed is made So simply because a certain memory area of the
• the size of the section to be output can be predetermined by a user, advantageously adapting to the resolution of the display device used in connection with the data network connection device.
• those data can also be displayed which, on the one hand, consist of static data within a certain period of time and, on the other hand, of rapidly changing data such as moving images.
• two levels are used in the graphics memory in a preferred embodiment, static data being stored in a first level and the moving images being stored in a second level. While the data in the first level need not be changed, the data in the second level changes.
• the first level is affected if the section is outside the area in which the moving images are to run.
• the data stored in the first and second levels are mixed according to the selected section.
• part of a selected section can be shown enlarged.
• a hardware-implemented magnifying glass function can be used for this purpose, which is integrated, for example, in a graphics controller.
• the invention is solved with the steps: - loading data to be displayed from a data network,
• a graphical representation of the data to be displayed is first generated and then the section to be output is determined.
• FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a first exemplary embodiment of a data network connection device according to the invention
• FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of the method according to the invention in a further embodiment
• FIG. 4 shows a flowchart from loading a website to the display of a page detail on a television
• FIG. 5 shows a flowchart from calling up a website to displaying it on a television according to the prior art.
• FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a data network connection device 1 according to the invention. This has an input 3 and an output 6. The input 3 of the data network connection device 1 is connected to a data network, in the illustrated case to the Internet 5. Inside the device, the input 3 is connected to an interface device 4. This is set up to convert the digital data received so that it can be further processed internally. The other way around, the interface device is of course also set up to send data to the Internet 5.
• the received data are first requested by a loading device 7, this being done, for example, by a user entering a URL or by clicking a link.
• the loading device 7 then loads the requested data, which are given, for example, by an HTML page, into a memory 8.
• a signal must be generated from the received data, with which the signal connected to the output 6 Display device 2 can be controlled.
• a display device 9 is provided, which is connected to the memory 8.
• the data from the memory 8 are loaded into an image generation device 10 of the display device 9. There, a graphic representation of the data to be displayed is calculated and subsequently stored in a graphic memory 11.
• the image generation device 10 is necessary because the loaded data in the memory 8 are not in a form in which they can be displayed.
• An HTML page for example, consists of a large number of commands. Only in a so-called browser or in the present case in the image generation device 10 is a graphical representation of the HTML page generated from the commands. This can be dependent happen by user settings, for example, the font size or the coloring can be influenced.
• the recipient of the HTML page can integrate graphic elements into the page, which are transmitted as separate files.
• Additional programs so-called plug-ins or Active-X controls, can also be called up which are set up to display, for example, animated graphic elements, films or the like.
• These additional programs are provided, for example, by program libraries in Microsoft Windows, so-called DLL files, and do not have to be loaded from the Internet with the HTML page. Only the data to be processed by the additional programs must be downloaded.
• a graphical representation is calculated from the data of the entire data to be displayed.
• internet browsers from the prior art work in such a way that they calculate the graphic representation of only the part of a page that can also be displayed on the display device.
• the display device 9 also includes an output device 12 for outputting a section of the graphic representation, which is stored in the graphic memory 11.
• the size of the section can be determined by the user's preferences and advantageously corresponds to the triggering of his display device. This ensures that subsequent circuit components only have to process the amount of data that can also be displayed, ie is visible to the user. When scrolling, it can also be ensured, for example, that the new screen content immediately follows the old one.
• the output device 12 has means 13 for selecting the section to be output. This enables horizontal and vertical scrolling across the entire page. Described clearly corresponds to the output
• the data network connection device 1 has an interface 18, which converts the digital signals from the output device 12 into, for example, an analog output signal for controlling a television.
• any analog or digital interfaces are conceivable, so that computer monitors, video projectors or recording devices can also be connected.
• the output device 12 has means 14 for the enlarged representation of a part of a selected section. If there are poorly legible or recognizable areas on one side, this area can be enlarged by means 14.
• Such a function can be implemented without major computational load by using hardware-implemented functions of a graphics chip, which in turn select a part from the section selected by means 13 and display it enlarged. The selection of a section adjoining the section shown so far is carried out by scrolling in this direction when a cursor is moved to one of the edges of the screen, that is to say the window is shifted in this direction.
• the shifted area may correspond to the screen height or width or a part thereof.
• a cursor control 19 is therefore coupled to the output device 12. However, this does not concern the core of the invention and is therefore not explained in detail.
• a further function takes into account a special problem which relates to the display of Internet pages on a television. Due to the poorer resolution of a television and the often relatively large distance that exists between a user and the screen, it is not always easy to see where the field in which one wants to make an entry or which is an active link is located which could be activated by the next key press. It is advantageous here that the data to be displayed are not only stored in the graphic memory as a pure pixel image, but also by parsing the page individual image elements for which the link elements function just written can be recognized. This makes it possible to have a link that is currently active or to mark an active input field with a focus frame or another means of highlighting.
• FIG. 2 shows a development of the data network connection device from FIG. 1.
• the graphics memory has two or more levels 16 and 17.
• the first level 16 stores the graphic representation of all HTML elements that were generated by the image generation device 10
• Moving images that were generated by an Active-X control or a plug-in are stored in the second level 17.
• the advantage is that the entire HTML page does not have to be recalculated every time the moving image is changed, although nothing has changed there. After a change on the HTML page, it is necessary to recalculate it, but this happens relatively rarely.
• the data is static to differentiate it from video films or other moving elements that have a much higher refresh rate.
• This division of the graphic memory 11 therefore makes it possible to keep the possibly very large HTML page unchanged in the first level 16 and only to update the memory 17 continuously, the moving images usually only a very small area of the total data to be displayed that are on one side.
• the output device 12 has a mixing device 15, which generates a common graphic representation from the data of the two storage levels.
• the mixing device Depending on how the section to be output was selected, only data from the first storage level 16 have to be taken into account by the mixing device. This is the case if there are no moving picture elements in the selected section.
• picture elements to be displayed are also to be shown in the selected section, the graphic representations of the first level 16 and the second level 17 are superimposed in such a way that either the graphic representation from the second level 17 comes to the foreground or the graphic representation of the first one is transparent Level 16 is recognizable.
• Zoom function as in the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 1, since only a two-dimensional graphic representation is present at the output of the mixing device 15.
• FIG. 1 shows a flow chart of a method according to the invention, which provides an overview of the method steps taking place.
• a first step 20 data from the Internet is loaded into a memory.
• a graphic representation is then generated from the loaded data in step 21. This can be done separately for different elements of the data to be displayed, with the graphical representation of static data, ie. H. which only change relatively rarely is stored in the first level of a graphics memory (step 22).
• Step 23 takes place in parallel, in which the graphic representation of moving images is stored in the second level of the graphic memory.
• a “window” is placed over the first and second levels of the graphics memory.
• the windows are always moved in parallel, so that the same section results in both levels.
• the graphical representations of the first and second levels are mixed, so that a two-dimensional graphical representation is obtained which contains data from both the first and the second level of the graphics memory.
• a part of the selected image section is shown enlarged, which is also referred to as “zooming”.
• the mixed data or the mixed and zoomed data are output in accordance with the graphic representation, for which purpose the output interface 18 is used.
• 4 and 5 show how the method according to the invention differs from the method according to the prior art. 5, which illustrates the method according to the prior art
• the process begins by a user entering a URL, i.e. H. the address of a page to be displayed from the Internet. Then, according to the procedure described here, which a standard browser uses, a check is carried out to determine whether the URL is available. In a step 42, the respectively loaded data is displayed, the display being updated at short intervals in order to additionally display the newly loaded data.
• a URL i.e. H. the address of a page to be displayed from the Internet.
• a check is carried out to determine whether the URL is available.
• the respectively loaded data is displayed, the display being updated at short intervals in order to additionally display the newly loaded data.
• step 43 it is determined that the page is loaded completely. Then, in steps 44 and 45, there are options for a user to change the page size or to move the page in step 45. Finally, the page to be displayed is recalculated and output in a step 46 as a function of user actions in steps 44 and 45.
• FIG. 4 shows the method according to the invention.
• this starts in a step 30 in that a user enters a URL and in a step 31 it is checked whether the URL is available.
• a step 32 it is determined whether the page has been loaded completely.
• no graphical representation of the loaded data has been generated and displayed, unlike the method according to the prior art, accordingly a graphical representation is generated and displayed at short time intervals.
• the page size to be displayed is then calculated in a step 33, which depends on the user's preferences.
• the graphic representation of the entire page is calculated beforehand, as was explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
• the selected section is output in step 34, so that the section can be displayed by a display device.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Controls And Circuits For Display Device (AREA)
• Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Related Child Applications (1)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

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Citations (4)

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• 2004
  • 2004-02-19 DE DE102004008248A patent/DE102004008248A1/de not_active Ceased
• 2005
  • 2005-02-17 TW TW094104579A patent/TWI347530B/zh not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2005-02-21 CN CN2005800053741A patent/CN1922568B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2005-02-21 DE DE502005004398T patent/DE502005004398D1/de active Active
  • 2005-02-21 EP EP05706769A patent/EP1719048B1/de not_active Not-in-force
  • 2005-02-21 WO PCT/DE2005/000293 patent/WO2005081098A1/de active IP Right Grant
• 2006
  • 2006-07-27 US US11/493,932 patent/US20070024628A1/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (4)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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